II Naomasa was a son of II Naochika and an adoptes son of Ii Naotora. And he was a father of Ii Naokatsu and Naotaka. He was born in 1561 and lost his father about two years later.
Then he was guarded by Naotora, daughter of his cousin Naomori who was the head of the Ii clan. He was called Toramatsu in his childhood and was brought up in the house of NIINO Samanosuke where he lived with his mother Hiyo. But he was forced to escape to Hioraiji temple in Mikawa because ONO Tajimanokami Masatsugu sought his life. Then Hiyo remarried MATSUSHITA Gentaro Kiyokage and he was adopted.
Young Toramatsu (Kokoro Terada)
In 1574, his relatives recommended him to serve TOKUGAWA Ieyasu and changed his family name back to his original family name Ii. And he was given his new name Manchiyo by him. He distinguished himself in the battles as the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, the Siege of Ueda in 1585 and the Siege of Odawara in 1590.
He celebrated his genpuku in 1582 and called himself Naomasa. He wore red armour in the battles and terrified his enemies as "Ii no akaoni", that means a red demon of the Iis (*). His red armour modeled on that of YAMAGATA Masakage,vassal of TAKEDA Shingen. After the Siege of Odawara, he became the lord of Minowa Castle in Kozuke and then Takasaki Castle.
He participated in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and was shot in the right elbow (or right shoulder, left arm) while fighting against the army of SHIMAZU Yoshihiro. After the battle, he negotiated with Ieyasu how to deal with the daimyos who took the side of ISHIDA Mitsunari. Besides he made efforts in establishing Tokugawa shogunate. He was ordered to protect the Imperial court and moved to Hikone where is near Kyoto.
Masaki Suda as Toramatsu who renames himself Manchiyo, and then Naomasa
After that, his wound sustained in the Battle of Sekigahara got worse and died in February 1602. He was a man with various anecdotes.
In this series, he is guarded by Naotora and goes to the hidden village in Kawana. But as Ii-no-ya was attacked by Takeda Shingen and the soldiers of the Imagawas seek him, he is taken to Horaiji by OKUYAMA Rokuzaemon. Then he is adopted by MATSUSHITA Gentaro who already married his mother Shino. After that he hopes to serve Tokugawa Ieyasu with his cousin Inosuke but thei first job is managing the footwears of the vassals of Ieyasu.
(*) Suda plays a role of red demon in a CM of mobile phone.
The images are from the official website of "Onna Joshu Naotora".